The movies Glory and 12 Years a Slave are both feature length films that tell a story
about slavery and racism in the United States during the 1850-1860’s. While
both movies tell very different stories in very different ways they both have received
a combination of praise and scorn for their historical accuracy or lack thereof.
However, these movies are modern day primary source for History class. These
movies present information, previously only shown through book, in a new,
interesting, and useful way which should be both appropriate but encouraged to
be used as a classroom tool for furthering a student’s education on the era in
American History.
12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve
McQueen, has won 30 awards from various sources, for cinematography, acting,
and writing. It is an adapted screenplay of a book written by Solomon Northup,
the protagonist of both the book and film, who was a free man living in New
York when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Some critics have argued that
there are discrepancies between the film and the book, such minor things like
the fact that Solomon had three children in the book and in real life, however
only two children were present in the film, or major things like that the film
was harsher on slave life than in reality and ignored slaves smaller acts of
liberty like families or religion, which were present in the book, which
detract from the films historical accuracy. Other critics disagree, saying that
the film merely chose to focus on the more vicious aspects of slavery, and in a
unique way. Robert Toplin of the American Historical Association said “Northup’s
book presents a more complex picture of slave life than does the movie, which
concentrates sharply on themes of oppression and victimization.” While the Film
is not a flawless historical documentary, it is a piece of work which
demonstrates the darker side of slavery in a way that books cannot always accomplish.
By choosing to focus on harsher elements of slavery the film is able to
generate empathetic and sympathetic connections of this part of history, and is
a conversation starter for a part of history which is often overlooked or not
studied to the depth it deservers because making those connections is often either
too difficult or too uncomfortable for people to fully understand.
Glory is very common in high schools around
the country. Despite winning only 6 awards from various sources when it was
released in 1989, its legacy continues to this day because of its prevalence in
American history classrooms. However, there is no question that the film often
takes historical events and tweaks them to fit into a more coherent and
entertaining script. Some critics will argue that any manipulation of
historical events is wrong and is in fact damaging to the films overall
quality. Kevin Levin wrote an essay in which he said ”Consider the pay crisis
scene which is quite powerful and even historically accurate. But it did not
take place until September 1863 – roughly two months after the failed assault
on Battery Wagner and after Shaw’s death. With its inaccurate chronology, the
movie loses an opportunity to emphasize how even the sacrifice of so many black
soldiers in the battle proved insufficient to overcome the most blatant forms
of institutional racism by the very government for whom they fought and died.”
While this type of criticism is true, and should be mention when watching the
film as to not present false information, this is simply not enough to warrant
the movie not being shown in the classroom. The other, largest criticism with
the film is that none of the black soldiers have any grounds in historical accuracy;
all of the black soldiers are fictionalized while all the white soldiers have
primary sources supporting them. This is an inaccuracy in the film but still
does not degrade the films quality to an extent that it should not be shown in
the classroom. The Black characters are written in a way as to represent the
different types of people who would have been present in the 54th.
Richard Bernstein of the NY Times argues that by fictionalizing certain aspects
of the historical events the film creates “a truth truer than the literal
truth.” The fictionalization makes it easier for modern students to make
empathetic and sympathetic connections with this aspect of America’s past. While
it is not perfect, the movie presents a perspective on these events which are
often forgotten in American history class. Richard Bernstein continues in his article
“While the movie is entirely clear about its focus, it is not the vehicle for a
full account of the obstacle placed in their path, which, if anything, were
more difficult even than Glory shows.”
Both of
these films are historical representations of the American views of race and
slavery in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Both of these films, in some instances,
intentionally sacrifices small amounts of historical accuracy in order generate
empathetic and sympathetic connections with the audience as well as entertain
the viewer. So long as the student is made aware of these inaccuracies, there
is no reason these films cannot be shown as a learning tool in an American
History classroom.
12 Years a Slave Examines
the Old South’s Heart of Darkness
Robert
Brent Toplin
Kevin Levin
Mackubin
T. Owens
